


The Course of History

by TheRogueHuntress



Series: Harry Potter Pairings Challenge [14]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dark, F/M, Romance, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-25
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-12-19 17:58:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11903145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRogueHuntress/pseuds/TheRogueHuntress
Summary: Seven turns. Exactly seven years back. Her calculations were perfect, she was sure. It all boiled down to the day that Severus Snape had died, the day that Voldemort had taken Hogwarts, and the day that the Light had fallen.





	The Course of History

Seven turns. Exactly seven years back. Her calculations were perfect, she was sure. It all boiled down to the day that Severus Snape had died, the day that Voldemort had taken Hogwarts, and the day that the Light had fallen.

Hermione gripped her wand in her hand, and twisted the butchered time turner around her neck with the other.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

She hissed as agony rippled through her body, and then everything went dark.

Screams awoke her, and Hermione gasped, scrambling to her feet. She was in the Forbidden Forest, and only meters away she could hear a Death Eater torturing a student. She crept closer.

A Hufflepuff sobbed as Dolohov stood over her, a manic grin upon his face.

She cast a silent cutting curse. His head separated from his body, and dropped to the floor, and the Hufflepuff moaned and crawled away from it. Hermione smiled, vindicated, and set off in the direction of the Shrieking Shack. It was not yet midnight – Severus Snape was still alive.

Disillusioned, she followed her younger self, Harry and Ron down the path from the Whomping Willow. They were under the cloak, but had not silenced their footsteps, and it was child's play to pace behind them.

She listened, for the second time, as Voldemort justified murdering Snape for the control of the Elder Wand, needless, when she knew that Harry was the true master. The time came – the snake attacked, and Snape began to die. The moment Voldemort left, she burst into action.

She stunned the 'Golden Trio' before her and sprinted into the shack. Forcing potions down Snape's, throat she began singing over his wound.

"Vulnera Sanentur, Vulnera Sanentur, Vulnera Sanentur…"

Slowly the wound began to heal. She siphoned out Nagini's venom onto the floor, and fed him more potions, blood replenishers, antivenins and antiseptics.

He gasped awake and stared at her in horror.

"What have you done?" he accused.

She kept her wand on him. "In seven years' time, Harry will have lost his mind to the Cruciatus, Ronald will be dead, and I will be leading the resistance against Him. There is nothing that I would not do to ensure that future does not become a reality once more. Tell me why I've just saved you."

Black eyes stared dully at her, before looking away. Snape touched the side of his neck, and grimaced.

"When the Dark Lord threatened Lily Potter's life, it broke me, as I had loved her for years. I went to Dumbledore, and begged for her to be saved. In return, I became a spy, and have been for seventeen years, protecting her child. I am, and have ever been, to this day, Dumbledore's man."

Hermione watched him silently, contemplating his words. She lowered her wand, then nodded for him to go on.

"Potter is a horcrux," he spat. "The Dark Lord must kill him, in order to become mortal once more. Dumbledore has raised him like a pig to slaughter."

Hermione kept her face blank, while internally she screamed at the cruel unfairness of life. "Very well," she said, proud to note her voice had not broken. "What proof do you have that can be given to Harry?"

Snape eyed her with a mixture of horror and grudging respect. Silently, he conjured a crystal bottle, and withdrew a stream of memories from his mind.

Hermione stared for a moment at the silver liquid, wondering if this was all that had been needed to have been done in order to change the future. Then she strode into the tunnel, and began altering the memories of Harry, Ron and herself, pushing the bottle into Harry's hand. They would think that they had collected the memories from Snape in his dying breath.

Snape was waiting for her when she returned, and eyed her warily.

"What foul magic did you perform, in order to alter the course of history?" he asked quietly.

Hermione sneered at him. "The worst." She extended her arm. "Let's go."

She apparated them to a hill overlooking Hogwarts. The battle had fallen silent, the defenders given an hour's grace to gather themselves, and Harry given an hour to sacrifice himself to Voldemort. She looked at Snape. He looked like he'd been drowning, and hadn't expected to ever surface.

Hermione extended her hand. He glanced at it, then at her, and then, with a wry twist of his lips, he slipped his hand into hers.

No words passed between them, two veterans of a war that had taken so much. They watched as the sun rose over Hogwarts, and the castle did not go up in flames as it had in Hermione's memories. Instead, there were fireworks bursting into bright colours in the sky, patronus messengers disappearing into the wind, and faintly she could hear cheers of celebration.

"We've won," she said, in wondrous astonishment, and for the first time in seven years, she smiled.

"What now?" Snape said, sounding as lost as she felt.

She stood, drawing him up with her, refusing to relinquish his hand. She gazed at him, and saw understanding, and peace in his eyes.

"Whatever it is," she whispered. "We'll do it together."

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading. Find me on [tumblr](https://theroguehuntress.tumblr.com/) if you wanna chat, or feel free to comment!


End file.
